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Terrorism moving into cyberspace, warns UN diplomat

Vladimir Voronkov called on the UN member states to unite their effort to combat the threat

© Alexandr Sherbak/TASS

MINSK, October 9. /TASS/. UN members should pool efforts into fighting terrorism, which is ever more frequently utilizing new IT and communication technologies, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Vladimir Voronkov told an international conference entitled: "Preventing and Countering Terrorism in the Digital Age" in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.

"Today, the counter-terrorism front is gradually moving into cyberspace - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and VKontakte," said Voronkov, the head of the UN Counter-Terrorism Office.

Over the past few years, the Internet, mobile gadgets and social media "have reshaped the way we communicate and receive information about the world," he explained.

"Along with advantages, this has generated new dangers and threats. These innovations are also used for crooked and depraved goals," the diplomat cautioned.

He said, "Terrorists continue using social media, encoded communications to circulate propaganda, recruit new militants and coordinate terrorist attacks," he went on to say.

"In order to win this war, UN member countries must pool together efforts and act together," he stressed.

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